Architecting Tomorrow's Electrical Grid

Architecting Tomorrow's Electrical Grid

White Paper, Energy Industry: Distributing computing intelligence is a necessary step in the transformation of the electrical network to enable utility operators to do more with their existing energy capacity.

The electrical utility industry is experiencing paradigm shifts across the globe, brought on by growing pressure to do more with their existing energy capacity while integrating clean energy sources. Regulators, along with the public, expect the industry to facilitate consumers in making informed decisions that save energy and respond to environmental concerns. The industry must also help accelerate efforts by customers to adopt up-and-coming energy technologies such as solar photovoltaics (PV), wind generation, and plug-in hybrid vehicles. As a result, utilities are responding with new programs that address renewable energy generation, demand-side management, and intelligent distribution.

As the grid grows in complexity, utility operators need intelligent agents that make real-time decisions that directly affect operational efficiency dispersed throughout the electrical network. Network architectures based on distributed intelligence enable intelligent agents to aggregate information from various local systems, such as smart meters, automatic feeders, and substations. Consequently, agents have enough context awareness to safely and effectively control the grid system. When these systems communicate over Internet Protocol (IP), they benefit from industry standards that deliver reliable and cost-effective networks with plenty of headroom.